The Waiting Game
by Stardust16
Summary: "At first, Character A didn't think much of it when Character B refused to wake up; it had been a rough couple of days, they needed some rest. But now, it's been three hours since and B isn't even opening their eyes no matter how much A shakes them." Takes place after FFH. Rated T for one swear word. Happy and May are dating, but he isn't in the character list.


**Prompt: "At first, Character A didn't think much of it when Character B refused to wake up; it had been a rough couple of days, and they needed some rest. But now, it's been three hours since and B isn't even opening their eyes no matter how much A shakes them."**

**Notes: I stayed up till five am writing this and am currently running on four hours of sleep, so please excuse any medical inaccuracies and typos. Otherwise, enjoy!**

* * *

At first, May didn't think much of it when Peter refused to open his eyes. It was just a few days after Mysterio had revealed his identity to the world and, while they were living in the log cabin with Pepper, Morgan, and Happy, and the three of them had promised things were going to be alright, they were still a little hectic. Peter had been allowed to keep his phone, but all of his social media was deactivated and all of his contacts were erased except those who were close to him, like Ned and Michelle, and they couldn't even go out in public anymore without being recognized or asked a dozen questions. And, while May did have to admit, it was a bit cool to be trending on Twitter and to have people stick up for them, it was also nerve-wracking and exhausting.

That is probably why she didn't sense anything was wrong until it was almost too late.

"Peter?" She called out as she knocked on the guest room door she was currently sharing with her nephew. He had been sleeping for hours now and May had tried her best to keep her space and not hover, and let him rest, but teenagers needed food and Peter had slept through breakfast and lunch. Surely he had to be hungry by now. "Are you awake, baby?"

She didn't get an answer.

Taking a deep breath, May sighed and pushed the door open as gently as she could. She didn't know if Peter was sleeping so much because he was trying to got over a sensory overload, but, if he was, then there was no way she wanted to make it worse.

"Peter?" The woman repeated as she sat on the edge of the bed. Making sure to keep her touch soft and delicate, she began to move his head, but drew back and hissed as soon as she came into contact with the kid's skin._ 'No wonder Peter is sleeping so much,'_ she thought to herself. The poor thing felt like he had a fever—and a bad one, at that.

"Peter," She then called again, as she patted his cheek and ran her hand through his hair in an effort to awake him. Unfortunately, he didn't, though. If anything, the poor boy just continued laying there, in an endless dream of sleep. "Wake up, baby. It's past noon."

"Mrs. Parker?" A voice stated from above her and May instinctively glanced up at the ceiling at F.R.I.D.A.Y, though she knew logically that the AI was located all over the house and was not just there. "Mr. Parker does not seem to be awaking. Perhaps you would like me to call Mr. Hogan for assistance?"

May nodded as she brushed Peter's bangs away from his face, the heat he was radiating warming up her hands in the process. "That would be great, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Thank you."

"It is no problem, Mrs. Parker."

Ten minutes later, Happy had arrived, but, to May, it seemed like her "fling" had taken forever to get there. "What's wrong?" he asked, as he walked on over to the two. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. said you needed me. Something about the kid not waking up?"

May nodded and rose from her seat to let Happy take over, as she went over to the wall to turn down the thermostat. "Yeah," she answered. "I came to get him, 'cause he hasn't eaten all day, but it feels like he has a fever. And it's freezing in here."

Happy nodded and muttered something about it probably just being a simple flu, but did as he was told and checked the kid anyway. "Well, fever's obviously high," he said, as he placed a hand on the teenager's sweaty neck, "but his pulse is fine, and he's breathing properly, so I don't think it's anything serious, but..."

"But, what?" May prompted, as she glanced back at the two with wide eyes.

"...But F.R.I.D.A.Y. might wanna run a diagnostic, so that we can be sure."

"On it, Mr. Hogan," the AI replied. Then, after three beats, the Irish woman had spoken again. "Scan completed. Mr. Parker has a fever of 103.9, which seems to be caused by the infection on his right leg. It seems to have deteriorated since a few days ago, and it is highly recommend that he receives a bath or ice packs to bring his fever down, and that he receives medical attention as soon as possible. If not treated soon, then it seems as if amputation will be necessary."

"Shit!" Happy hissed, as he leapt off the bed and almost knocked the lamp over in the process. Tearing off the duvet and sheets, he had then rolled up the superhero's sweatpants and swallowed at the sight of the kid's injury.

Most of the knee, if not all of it, was a nasty shade of purple, grey and even black, and Happy was sure he would've thrown up if he didn't have such a strong stomach. Not only that, but the limb must've started bleeding again, even though he clearly remembered the SHIELD med team just treating it almost a week ago, as thin but continuous streams of blood made their way down Peter's calf, until they reached his ankle.

Snapping into action, the forehead of security had taken off his jacket before wrapping it tightly around the teen's knee. Peter, in response, whimpered, a small sign that he was in pain and obviously coming to, but Happy didn't care or even dare to think about that. Peter could lose his leg. _'This was no time to be gentle,'_ he thought to himself.

Scooping the kid up in his arms, bridal style, Happy turned about to face May behind him, who was still standing near the thermostat, but now biting her lip and frowning in worry. "I need you to get the car started. And tell Pepper that we're bringing Peter, here, to the hospital, and that Cho needs to get down there now. The kid may have had his identity revealed to the entire world, but that doesn't mean I want any doctors besides SHIELD's treating him."

"Of—Of course." May instantly nodded and ran out of the room, before making her way down the stairs to find the redhead and brunette. She only hoped that they'd be in the same room as earlier, and had not decided to start any kind of movie marathon.

Taking a moment to stare at the kid in his arms, being all limp and lax, Happy sighed before he ran and followed after the woman he was dating. God, this kid was gonna be the death of him...

* * *

"Well?" Pepper questioned, as she crossed her legs and took a seat beside May, since Happy was sat on the other side of her, comforting her. She and Morgan had just come back from the cafeteria to bring back some treats and (hopefully) get everyone's energy up, since they'd been stuck in the emergency room for a little over three hours now. "How is he? Has there been any updates yet?"

"Nothing," May murmured, as she swallowed back a sob and stared into her coffee. She was tired, and thirsty, and the coffee tasted like plastic, but she couldn't bring herself to drink it. How had she not noticed? She knew they were all stressed and spent these last few days, but Peter was way more so than anyone else, and, although he was somewhat of a decent liar, he wasn't when he was sick. How had he kept this? How had she _not noticed?_ He was her kid, for crying out loud!

"Don't worry," Happy assured her. The two were holding hands and, upon feeling him squeeze hers, May felt some of her worry drain away. "No news is good news. That means nothing bad has happened."

"Bad?" Morgan repeated, from her spot beside Pepper. Taking a break from drinking her hot chocolate, she had then peered up at her mom, with her big, innocent eyes full of worry. "Is something bad gonna happen to Petey, Mom?"

Pepper, for a moment, didn't know whether she should lie to her daughter or not, but quickly decided against it. They were a family, and you couldn't keep walls up with a family.

"We don't know," she spoke, softly. "He's still in surgery, honey, but this is one of the best hospitals in the city—"

"It's the only hospital in the city," Happy mumbled under his breath.

"—And we have a good team of medical professionals, filled by some of the greatest in the entire world, so he's in good hands, okay, baby?"

Morgan still looked a bit scared, her coffee-coloured curls framing her face, but she nodded anyway, her eyes shining with light. "Okay," she stated. "I trust you, Mom."

Pepper smiled, for the first time in hours, and placed a kiss on her daughter's hair. "I know you do," she replied. "I know you do, sweetheart. I know."

* * *

It took another hour and a half before someone had came out.

"Peter Parker?" The nurse called out, making sure to keep her voice quiet, as she didn't want to draw attention to the superhero she'd just treated. Then, taking a step closer to the four people lined up along the chairs that were separated from the rest, she had spoken again. "Are you his family?" She asked.

May nodded and, at once, all four of them stood up (or, three of them, since Morgan was still peacefully sleeping). "I'm his aunt," she offered, before searching through her purse and offering up a piece of ID as proof. "How is he doing? Is he okay?"

The nurse smiled tightly, as she addressed all three of them. "I'm not going to lie to you," she said, truthfully. "Peter did lose a lot of blood, even before he got here, and that made it pretty touch and go for a while."

"Oh my God," May muttered.

"But, Dr. Cho did manage to stabilize him and save his leg and is now setting him up in his room with a blood transfusion and some pain medication. However, the surgery did take four hours, and he did have to be given anesthesia for it, so he will be a bit confused when he wakes up. Otherwise, Cho can answer the rest of your questions, and, if you wish to go see him, you can. It's just asked that you don't make too much noise, because Peter does need his rest, and because we do have other patients that need to be treated here."

"Thank you," May stated, gratefully, as she shook the nurse's hand. Then, watching as the older woman walked away, she had then taken a deep breath, before walking through the doors, ready to see her nephew again.

* * *

Peter groaned, as he began to come back to consciousness. He knew he was staying with May, Happy, and Morgan in Pepper's cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and the last thing he remembered was brushing his teeth and heading to bed, but he didn't think he was there now. There wasn't any smell of nature, or pine, and he couldn't quite figure out why.

"M'y?" The superhero mumbled, surprised at how slurred his words were. Why did they sound like that? And why did his tongue feel so heavy, and why did his elbow feel like something was pinching it? However, despite that being a little concerning, it was also the last thing on his mind, as the teenager tried to figure out where he was and who was with him. "M'y," he repeated, moving his hand around. "M-M'y."

"Peter?" A voice finally answered him, and the teen felt someone's hand grip his. They smelled of coconut, and vanilla, and old books, and Peter took a deep breath, inhaling the scent. "Peter, baby? Can you hear me? Can you speak, please?"

Opening his eyes was a tough effort, but the teen did it anyway, and smiled when he saw it was his aunt who was sitting with him. "M'y," he muttered, feeling his fingers being squeezed. "Where 'm I?"

Upon hearing his question, May's happiness faded a little, though it was evident that it was still there. "We're at the hospital," she responded. "Happy and I tried to wake you yesterday afternoon, but you weren't responding and were burning up with a fever. We had to bring you here to get surgery on your knee, Peter."

"Surg'ry?" The teen repeated, only picking up bits and pieces of the sentence.

May, in response, nodded. "You lost a lot of blood and the doctors were worried at one point that they were going to lose you. They thought—I thought they were going to have to amputate your knee, sweetie."

Peter, though still a bit groggy, sat up at this, his eyes wide. "Amputate?!" He asked. His breaths were beginning to come faster now, and May, in an effort to calm him down, shushed him and ran a hand through his hair. "Wh't? Why?"

"Because," May explained, deciding it was best to give him the shorter version. If Peter had wanted to be told in more detail what happened later on, then she would tell him, but she figured it was best to let him calm down right now. "You injured your knee during the final battle with Mysterio and SHIELD treated it, I guess, but there was some bacteria they didn't catch, and it ended up getting infected." Then, upon seeing Peter a bit scared, she had then added; "But, you're okay, baby. They just want to keep you overnight for observation, but otherwise you're fine. All you're going to need is a wheelchair, and then maybe some crutches for a little bit."

Peter sighed and sank back against the pillows, emotionally and physically exhausted. "And P'pper and H'ppy and Morg'n?"

"All okay," May stated. "Happy's just at the Starbucks a block over, getting us some real food, and Morgan's back with Pepper at the cabin. They wanted to stay, but I told them it was getting late, and that they should leave and get some sleep."

Peter nodded, and closed his eyes for a brief moment, before opening them again and glancing at his aunt. "Th'nks, M'y."

May's eyes sparkled and she planted a quick kiss on the top of her nephew's knuckles, before she spoke, her voice soft. "Get some sleep, Peter."

* * *

**I am open to requests. :)**


End file.
